To claim a kindly welcome home.
Nor shall the old-time dædal sting
Of prejudice, their manhood wing,
Nor heights, nor depths, nor living streams
Stand in the pathway of their dreams!
Georgia Douglas Johnson.
Pioneer Infantries
STEVEDORES, engineers, and labor battalions had been rushed to France to blaze the trail for the American forces. Already the 15th New York, the 8th Illinois, 371st and 372nd Regiments had worked and fought their way to the thickest of the carnage. The 92nd Division was waiting for the final word that would carry them across. And yet the twelve million colored people of the United States had not fully answered the call. None, however, were more willing to serve the country in its hour of peril. Therefore there was a ready response, when late in May of 1918, President Wilson called for the organization of colored infantries.